McLaren...
auto transportation. By 1928 this system included 43 hotels and 19 automobile
itineraries that covered some 25,000 kilometers. The result was a continuous net-
work of travel under the direction of the CGI that connected Bordeaux and Mar-
seilles with major centers like Marrakech, Casablanca, Tangier, Algiers, and Tunis,
as well as more remote locations like the oases of Timimoun and Ghardaia in the
Algerian Sahara. The publicity material that advertised this system speaks of a
unique chain of modern hotels that allowed for travel into the interior of Algeria,
Tunisia, and Morocco.A similar though later development took place in the Italian colony of Libya, whose
earliest tourist improvements began under the direction of Governor Giuseppe
Volpi (1921-25). This progress culminated during the Governorship of Italo Bal-
bo (1934-40) with the foundation of the Ente turistico ed alberghiero della Libia
(ETAL) in May of 1935. As a state-sponsored corporation, this group provided the
services of a travel agency, acted as tour operator, managed a network of hotels, and
supervised a group of entertainment facili-
ties that included a theater and casino. By the end of the 1930s, the tourist system
of the ETAL was comprised of a network of 18 hotels located throughout Libya,
as well as numerous affiliated entertainment and tourist facilities in Tripoli and
Benghazi and several travel offices in Italy and Libya. The combination of activi-
ties and resources not only allowed the ETAL to provide an inclusive package of
services for a tourist audience, but also enabled it to provide a tourist experience
that extended the comforts of European
travel to the colonial context.
Despite the importance of tourism in
North Africa being connected to an ef-
ficient and modern system of travel and
accommodation, the tourist experience
of the native culture was the prime mo-
tivation for travel. It was largely in support of this experience that the colonial
authorities in the French and Italian colonies put considerable effort into a sys-
tematic study of the local culture. Not only were numerous books published
on this material, but additionally many indigenous buildings were preserved.
The results of such preservation programs include the Dar Adiyel Palace in Fez,
Morocco and the Qaramanli Mosque in Tripoli, Libya — both of which were sig-
nificant historical buildings that became an important part of the tourist itiner-Figure 2: Map of road system in Libya
from Tripoli: Piccola guida pratica e pianta
della città (Tripoli: Unione Coloniale Itali-
ana Pubblicità & Informazioni, 1938).
Figure 3. Interior courtyard of Dar Adi-
yel Palace (17th century), Fez, Morocco.
[Dedalo Vol. 9, No. 12 (May 1929), p. 743].Figure 4: Interior of the Mosque of
Ahmad Pasha Qaramanli (1736), Trip-
oli, Libya. [Dedalo Vol. 7, No. 8 (January
1927), p. 501].